Study Sessions
by Lil' Quill
Summary: Scorpius strives to excel at Potions. Albus devises a plan to help him, which requires some help from a certain Rose Weasley...
**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back with Round 2 of the QLFC Season 4, which is all about Hogwarts subjects! As Chaser 2 of the Chudley Cannons, here are my prompts:**

 **Main Prompts: Potions/Write about someone trying to master (an aspect or the entirety of) the subject.**

 **Optional Prompts:**

 **9\. (word) watery**

 **12\. (word) throw**

 **15\. (dialogue) "It happened again, what do I do?"**

 **Sit back, relax, and enjoy!**

...

"I will now pass back your homework from last week. On it is the letter grade you could expect from it during your N.E.W.T.'s," Slughorn's voice echoed around the dungeons. "I am glad to see that most of you have grasped the immense properties of Felix Felices and the ingredients that make it so what it does. Now, some of you, on the other hand…" Slughorn's jovial chuckle boomed around the room. "All I can say is that I know you have it in you, my friend! Lay off the Quidditch a little and try to squeeze in some more studying time, eh?"

Scorpius's heart sank. He was a Chaser and had been given the immense honor of Captain of the Slytherin team last year. Was Slughorn referring to him? Yes, Scorpius had been rather busy due to intense Quidditch practice, but he certainly hadn't neglected his studies to the point where he would fail. Unlike his father, he was not naturally gifted at Potions, but, considering that Draco had gone on to become a freelance potioneer, Scorpius felt that he almost had something to prove. Scorpius looked up to his father and admired the way his father conceded that he had done terrible things during the Second Wizarding War and then gone on to amend his ways, teaching Scorpius to respect Squibs, Muggles, Muggle-borns, House Elves, and all magical creatures. Scorpius wanted to show that he could be like his father but not make the same mistakes. Most of all, Scorpius wanted his father to be proud of his skill in Potions.

Scorpius's heart clenched as Slughorn approached his desk and set down the piece of parchment that held his essay – and, more importantly, his grade. To his relief, Slughorn smiled.

"Good as always, Scorpius, m'boy, but I know you can make it excellent."

Scorpius held his breath as he tentatively flipped over the piece of parchment in front of him to find that he had received a large, rounded letter "A" for "Acceptable" in broad strokes of dark silver ink – Slughorn's favorite for grading.

Well, at least he hadn't failed.

At the same time, though, Scorpius really would have wanted an "E" or an "O" on his essay. He wanted an immaculate N.E.W.T. score for Potions. Scorpius looked over at paper in front of his close friend Albus, who sat right next to him, to see a shiny "E" for "Exceeds Expectations."

Albus whisper-yelled a "Yes!" upon seeing his score before looking over at Scorpius. "What'd you get?

Scorpius sighed. "It happened again. What do I do?"

Albus gave him a look of pity. "I' running out of ideas here." Then suddenly Albus's eyes lit up, and an almost mischievous grin snaked its way onto his face. "Never mind. I've got something better. Talk to me at lunch."

Then Albus took of for Arithmancy, leaving a very befuddled Scorpius to trudge off to Herbology.

…

When Scorpius entered the Great Hall for lunch, he saw Albus arguing with his fiery-haired cousin Rose Weasley, who was usually seated at the Ravenclaw table with the rest of her House. As Scorpius plopped down into his chair and grabbed a green apple from a bowl on the table, he heard Scorpius groan, "Come on, Rose, please? For me? It'll mean so much to him, too."

Rose looked fairly annoyed. "Albus, I've already told you, there's no way that I have time!"

"But it'll only be a few meetings. I know Scorpius will appreciate it–"

"Oh, forget it Albus."

Scorpius was rather shocked that they had been completely ignoring his presence for so long. He finally opened his mouth to interrupt their little yelling session. "What are you guys talking about?"

Both opened their mouths at the same time.

"I want to help you with your Potions problems–"

"This complete idiot over here–"

"–so I decided to ask Rose if she could maybe help you out a little–"

"–is eating into my free time, my study time–"

"–you know, since she's always had better Potions grades than you, sorry mate, but it's true–"

"–leeching off my sense of kindness–"

"–isn't letting me help out a close friend–"

"Enough!" Scorpius finally cried out. "Now, could you please explain it to me from the top?"

Albus opened his mouth once more and was met with a fierce glare from Rose, who kept completely silent, lips pursed and posture dangerously straight.

"I decided that you might need some extra help in Potions, so I asked Rose to maybe help you out a little. She's always done pretty well in the subject. I know how much getting a good grade matters to you. I thought she could guide you a little with that. Unfortunately, though," Albus continued, his voice growing a little irritated, "Rose refuses to cooperate."

"Albus, I already told you, I'm really busy!"

"Rose, please, you've got to have some space in your schedule!"

Scorpius cleared his throat. "Thanks for this, Albus. You're a good friend. But this does sort of depend more on Rose, so she gets the final say." Scorpius turned to Rose. Albus's suggestion actually had some merit. Scorpius had tried studying with Albus, getting a tutor, and preparing for tests with his fellow Slytherins, but to no avail. Scorpius therefore decided to give Rose the most pleading look he could muster. "Rose, I know it's inconvenient for you, but please?"

Under the expectant looks of both Scorpius and albus, Rose's resolve crumbled a little. "Fine," she declared. "But I'm deciding all the times, and our study sessions won't necessarily be regular."

"Deal," responded Scorpius. He actually felt glad at the prospect, considering Rose's natural gift for Potions, which Slughorn often pointed out during class.

"Okay, then. Thursday, Library, seven in the evening?"

Scorpius nodded vigorously.

…

Scorpius and rose's first study session actually went quite well. Not only did they study numerous concepts of Potions, from bezoars to hellebore to water from the River Lethe, they also completed half of their homework assignment, which pertained to love potions of different calibers.

Unfortunately, after this study session, Albus had decide to greet them with a barrage of questions to ensure that they had actually studied.

Thanks to Albus's constant pushing, Rose's and Scorpius's study sessions grew more and more regular, often falling on Thursdays at that same time.

Until that one day.

It was a late March day that had been blessed with rare sun, and Scorpius needed to practice for the upcoming Quidditch game against Gryffindor. They practiced tirelessly until Scorpius suddenly realized that he needed to go meet Rose.

Throwing the Quaffle one last time, he called out, "All right, keep practicing. I'm going to run inside for a minute, but I'll be back in a bit."

Scorpius dashed inside the castle in his sweaty Quidditch gear, until he skidded to a halt in the Library. The two made eye contact as Scorpius walked briskly to their usual table, his stormy grey eyes to her vibrant blue ones.

Suddenly, both simultaneously blurted out, "I can't study today."

Scorpius laughed, relieved, sending Rose a wide grin and sprinting away before the ancient Madam Pince could berate him for running.

Hell arrived when Albus's barrage of questions about their study session came.

"Did you two study together?"

Scorpius and Rose looked at each other nervously before Scorpius responded, "Yes."

"What about the homework? Did you do it?"

It was Scorpius's turn to answer. "We looked over it, but we haven't really done much."

"When are you going to finish it?"

"We'll do it on our own. Merlin, Al, you sound like we can't do anything ourselves anymore," Rose fired back, rolling her eyes dramatically. "He isn't completely reliant on me, you know. Scorpius is perfectly capable of completing his assignment on his own. He's smart, he can do it."

Albus looked from one to the other suspiciously. Scorpius tried to stay perfectly still to prevent any guilty fidgeting.

At last, Albus simply gave up. "All right, see you two at dinner."

As soon as Albus rounded the corner, both Rose and Scorpius let out the breaths they had been holding.

"Hmm," Rose contemplated, "we make a pretty good team, don't we?"

"Yeah", Scorpius smiled.

…

It was late night on that same Thursday. All the boys in his dorm were sleeping, but Scorpius had broken the rules, hiding out in the Library and studying fervently, surrounded by books pulled haphazardly from the Potions section.

He had to study for class tomorrow. They would be brewing an Exploding Fluid, and he needed to know everything perfectly to get the best grade possible.

Scorpius was so wrapped up that he didn't notice another figure pull up a chair at his table.

"Crush the fluxweed, chop up the lavender, add the Erumpent fluid, stir seven times clockwise–"

"Actually, you need to add Flobberworm mucus before you stir. If you don't, the potion'll turn out too watery."

Scorpius's neck snapped up so fast he cricked it. "Oh, it's just you, Rose," he let out a soft laugh. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to do the homework, too, you know."

"Oh," Scorpius responded, his mind too addled with tiredness and frantic studying to come up with a better response.

"Let's study together, shall we?"

…

"Oh, excellent work! Class, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter have brewed this Exploding Fluid perfectly. Watch," Professor Slughorn added a few drops to a tiny firework contained in a jar, which promptly erupted in sparks.

As Professor Slughorn lavished praise upon him, Scorpius sent a wink to Rose and mouthed a "Thank you!" from across the room.

She smiled up and winked back.

Scorpius felt something in his chest flutter.

Maybe the fumes from all the potions were just getting to him.

…

 **A/N: Annnd scene! I'd love to hear any feedback! Review, PM, favorite, whatever floats your boat!**

 **Ink on!**

 **Lil' Quill**


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